5 Simple Ways To Skyrocket Your Concentration For Success At Work

Before you go on to read this, I want to ask you one thing. Are you giving me your full attention? Unfortunately, the answer is probably no.

In fact, studies at the University of California suggest that our ability to focus has dropped dramatically over the last decade, particularly at work. And it looks like technology is the main culprit.

But do we really need studies to tell us that we’re struggling to concentrate? I definitely don’t. I struggled with focus for a long time. As a freelancer and a millenial, there seemed to be all the time in the day to get things done, and all the entertainment in the world to make sure that they weren’t done immediately.

Improving my concentration has been a product of two things; structuring my routine to minimize sensory distractions and strengthening my ability to focus to reduce emotional distractions.

These two factors; sensory distractions – such as if your Facebook tab is flashing while you are trying to write a report, and emotional distractions – such as anxiety, fear, worry or anger – are the biggest obstacles that prevent you from concentrating.

What I’ve composed here are 5 ways you skyrocket your ability to concentrate at work, simply by working on these two barriers:

1. Emphasize your why

Going back to the basics of motivation and thinking about rewards and punishments is actually very beneficial. Most of us forget why we are doing things on a day to day basis, and that leaves our attention open to other avenues.

If you have your mind focused on why you are doing the work, whether it be to reach a larger goal, to feed your family, to move up in a company, or to travel at the end of the year – you will keep your motivation high enough to stop you from being swayed too easily by simple distractions.

Likewise, negative reinforcement can often be even more effective. What will happen if you don’t finish the job on time; will you miss spending time with your family? Will it stop you from any chance of promotion? Will it mean you’ll have to skip out on going out with friends?

Try writing a list of both the rewards and consequences down on two separate post-it notes, and keep them on either side of your desk.

“Finding WHY is a process of discovery, not invention.” – Simon Sinek

2. Set email, text and social media windows

These three are the biggest time killers in your life. And unfortunately, you can access all of them right from your computer.

What you need to do if you are to be productive at work, is to set specific windows for when you can and can’t use them. Email is best reserved for the morning, say between 9:30am and 10:00am, and in the afternoon, say between 4pm and 4:30pm.

Text and Social Media should be used very sparingly, no more than 20 minutes a work day. Give yourself 2 x 10 minute blocks, or 4 x 5 minute blocks. But outside of that have your phone on airplane mode and your social media accounts off (or blocked).

3. Use web apps to keep you on track

When it comes to web apps to boost productivity, there are dozens to consider. These can make a huge difference to your habits. I generally look for three.

4. Strengthen your focus muscle with exercises

Meditation is the quickest way to strengthen your ability to focus, and research suggests that it takes as little as 8 weeks to see measurable improvements. However, there are other ways to increase your attention span.

Here are some practical ways to improve your concentration:

Practice mindfulness throughout the day

Memorize facts or quotes

Exercise your body

Take cold showers

Read difficult books

Remember that in the same way you’d build your body for the gym over time, you don’t want to overexert yourself – but you also want to increase the mental weight over time.

5. Listen to the right type of music

Music has been found to be a very powerful tool for workplace productivity. And that’s great, because there has never been an easier time to listen to music while you work. It’s important to know however that not just any type of music works. Some types of music are better for energy, some for focus and others for creativity.

For repetitive tasks that require little cognition, you want positive, up beat tunes – think Pharrell Williams Happy. If you want to boost your creativity, you want to leave out any songs with lyrics, as your brain will instinctively try to comprehend them (unless they are in a foreign language), and this takes an extra level of energy. For focus you want something repetitive, without many peaks or troughs.

As technology makes it easier to become distracted, your ability to concentrate will be an increasingly valuable professional asset.

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” – Plato

Improving your concentration doesn’t take a genius, it just takes someone who’s willing to focus on routine and consistent practice. Work on the tactics above and you’ll start to see your concentration at work skyrocket in no time.

5 Comments

Tim Denning

May 3, 2016 at 5:11 am

Ben I stay focused at work my not letting my phone distract me every five seconds and giving my undivided attention to my customers. I also spend one day a week in a quiet space so I can smash out any presentations or written proposals that I need to do. Thanks for your article.

Emails and social media are my biggest downfall at my day job, but I seem to block them out when I am working on ym own projects outside of my day job. This goes to show that my why is stronger when working on projects that get me going, as I am more focused on the work.

I do like the idea of listening to songs with lyrics, or how about a thought provoking podcast, I could see that working?

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Why It’s So Important To Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone

So I completed a Snake Handling course 6 years ago and during the final test of the course, we were asked to capture and bag 5 of Australia’s Deadliest snakes in a small confined room. The room had a Tiger Snake, Dugite, King Brown, Death Adder and a Red-Bellied Black Snake all slithering around at the same time. I couldn’t believe what I had got myself into.

Snakes were one of the biggest fears of mine. I would imagine a snake running underneath my feet from time to time and I would actually bring my feet up off the floor to avoid getting entangled or bitten by these imaginary snakes I had created in my mind. I would even have nightmares about snakes biting me and it would wake me up in sweats in the middle of the night.

I could have never imagined doing this in my life but I did it because I knew that I had to get passed this ridiculous fear I had of snakes, and I am grateful I was able to show up for it.

Checkout this podcast episode where I share how You can Master your Sub Conscious Programming around your fears in 2 Steps:

“What Are Your Top 5 Fears?”

– Public Speaking

– Cancer

– Sharks

– Snakes

– Heights

Were at the top of the list for most people.

The instructor carried on with a story of how he had just arrived back from a trip to the Northern Territory of Australia to visit an aboriginal community where he had met a 7-year-old boy who was absolutely scared to death of spiders and the dark.

It did not matter what kind of spider it is, he was scared and that was that. This boy would hunt crocodiles and lizards but was scared of even the non-venomous spiders.

All he had learned from a very young age was that spiders are dangerous and that they WILL kill you, yet the crocodiles and snakes that the boy would play with and hunt for are by far more deadly than most spiders that your everyday human would come across.

He was taught between the crucial years of 1-6 yrs old that the dark is full of evil happenings and that spiders are incredibly deadly and will kill him if he goes anywhere near them. So he was devastated to sleep in the dark and would jump on near by people just to get away from a spider nearby.

I’m not here to say that spiders aren’t dangerous, they are, and some out there have the potential to kill you. This boy was right to be cautious around spiders but where he lacked knowledge, or the right information about these creatures, eventually left him fearful of something he had never really understood.

This boy is just an example of many other people out there that are limited by their fears because of the little that they know. The less you know, the more fearful you are. This is only human and we are naturally scared of the unknown.

So the key thing here is we need more “KNOWLEDGE!” and it is in our best interest to want to understand how things work if we want to become less fearful of what the wild and wonderful world we live in has to offer.

You have to “EXPERIENCE” things to have a better understanding of the activity or whatever it is you are most scared of.

Joel Brown – Certified Snake Handler

When you increase your knowledge you can grow to the level where your fear is set at, so when the two meet it creates a level called “RESPECT”.

This is the perfect level to be on because you will now have a respect for what you fear which will allow you to then work with it rather than being submissive and missing out on the wonderful feeling of successfully OWNING!the outer areas of your comfort zone.

Everybody has a fear of some sort and learning more about what you fear and even voyaging through your ‘un-comfortable zone‘ will prepare you for the hard knocks in life on your road to success.

I have a few more fears to conquer myself and I am happy to say that I have crossed ‘Snakes’ and a number of other top things off my list. I’m sharing this story with you in hopes that you too will face at least one or two of your fears. Not to say that “you did it“, but to prove that you can outgrow your own personal limitations.

Your fears could be holding you back, they could even be the final piece you need to experience a brand new lifestyle or a brave new world of fun.

So get out there, learn more and grow!

No matter the storm, may your Faith be stronger than your Fears – Joel Brown

Feature Image Original Source: Indiana Jones – Raiders Of The Lost Ark